For the inner-city player from Los Angeles, that shouldn't be a stretch.

Boyles' plight has been well chronicled and sprinkled with tragedy and trauma, experiences that have matured the 19-year-old, but kept him distant at the same time.

His younger brother was killed in a gang-related incident. The touted recruit didn't score high enough on the SAT to enroll with his class last August, so he got a job at a UPS warehouse and prepared to take the test again. His second effort was enough and he arrived in Seattle in January.

Brash and confident, Boyles said he is ready to play – and be – older.

"When I was in high school, I didn't take care of myself financially, but school-wise and being motivated, I always made my own decisions," Boyles said. "I pretty much got here on my own, my mom a little bit, but being on my own is not a big adjustment at all."

Camp hasn't thrown him any curveballs thus far.

"I know it's going to be hard and tiring," Boyles said. "You have to keep focused. Coaches will be on you if you mess up, but there's nothing that surprises me."

Part of his growth has been to learn to trust.

Receivers coach Charlie Baggett wanted Boyles to learn the offense, of course. Boyles, however, thought he could get by on his talent.

"I used to never study a playbook," Boyles said. "I'd look at it when a coach would say to look at it but during the spring, I started really getting into it and now I think I'm really starting to know what I'm doing."

He also thought he could continue to get by on his own.

"Coach Baggett gets on me and I like that about him," Boyles said. "At first I was too shaky for that, but now I know where he's coming from. And D'Andre (Goodwin) ... I thought the older guys wouldn't tell us anything because they didn't want us to take their spots, but everybody helps everybody, so that's great."

TAYLOR IN – WHO'S NEXT? Freshman Vince Taylor participated in his first practice Thursday. Taylor, originally projected to be a defensive back, worked out with the receivers.